Launching CMS

Before you launch CMS, follow the steps for setting up your non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switch and assigning it an IP address.

Note The Catalyst 2950 LRE and the Catalyst 2955 switches do not support Express Setup.

After you assign the IP address, you will enter the IP address of your switch and your password (if one has been set) in a browser window. Then the Switch Home Page opens (see Figure 4-1). To launch CMS, click Cluster Management Suite on the left side of the Switch Home Page.

Figure 4-1 Switch Home Page

The Switch Home Page has these tabs:

•Express Setup—Opens the Express Setup page, on which you can configure your switch

•Cluster Management Suite—Launches CMS, through which you can manage the switch

Features

CMS provides these features for managing switch clusters and individual switches from Web browsers such as Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer:

•Two views of your network, as shown in Figure 4-2, that can be displayed at the same time:

–A Front Panel view that displays the front-panel image of a specific set of switches in a cluster. From this view, you can select multiple ports or multiple switches and configure them with the same settings.

Note When CMS is launched from a command switch, the Front Panel view displays the front-panel image of the command switch. You can select more switches to be displayed. When CMS is launched from a noncommand switch, the Front Panel view displays only the front panel of the specific switch.

–A Topology view that displays a network map that uses icons representing switch clusters, the command switch, cluster members, cluster candidates, neighboring devices that are not eligible to join a cluster, and link types. From this view, you can select multiple switches and configure them to run with the same settings. You can also display link information in the form of link reports and link graphs.

This view is available only when CMS is launched from a command switch.

Figure 4-2 CMS Front Panel and Topology Views

•Menus and a toolbar, as shown in Figure 4-3, to access configuration and management options:

–The menu bar provides the complete list of options for managing a single switch and switch clusters.

–The toolbar provides buttons for commonly used switch and cluster configuration options and information windows such as legends and online help.

–The device popup menu, in either the Front Panel or the Topology view, provides switch and cluster configuration and monitoring options.

–The candidate, member, and link popup menus provide options for configuring and monitoring devices and links in the Topology view.

Figure 4-3 CMS Menus and Toolbar

•Tools to simplify configuration tasks:

–Interactive modes—guide mode and expert mode—that control the presentation of some complex configuration options.

–Wizards that require minimal information from you to configure some complex features.

–Comprehensive online help that gives high-level concepts and procedures for performing CMS tasks.

•Two levels of access to the configuration options: read-write access for users allowed to change switch settings and read-only access for users allowed to only view switch settings.

•Consistent set of GUI components (such as tabs, buttons, drop-down lists, and tables) for a uniform approach to viewing and setting configuration parameters.

Front Panel View

When CMS is launched from a command switch, the Front Panel view displays the front-panel image of the command switch, as shown in Figure 4-4. You can select switches to be displayed by checking the boxes in the cluster tree view (left panel of CMS). The switches that are displayed in the tree view can be re-arranged by dragging and dropping them.

Figure 4-4 Front Panel View from a Command Switch

Note CMS from a standalone switch or from a noncommand switch is referred to as Device Manager (also referred to as Switch Manager). Device Manager is for configuring an individual switch. When you select Device Manager for a specific switch in the cluster, you launch a separate CMS session. The Device Manager interface can vary between the Catalyst switch platforms.

When CMS is launched from a standalone or noncommand member switch, the Front Panel view displays only the front panel of the specific switch, as shown in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5 Front Panel View from a Standalone Switch

Cluster Tree

Figure 4-4 shows the cluster tree that appears in the left frame of the Front Panel view and shows the name of the cluster and a list of its members. Figure 4-6 shows the device icons that you can drag and drop to rearrange them in the cluster tree. The colors of the devices in the cluster tree show the status of the devices, as listed in Table 4-1.

If you want to configure switch or cluster settings on one or more switches, select the appropriate front-panel images.

•To select a front-panel image, click either the cluster-tree icon or the corresponding front-panel image. The front-panel image is then highlighted with a yellow outline.

•To select multiple front-panel images, press the Ctrl key, and left-click the cluster-tree icons or the front-panel images. To deselect an icon or image, press the Ctrl key, and left-click the icon or image.

If the cluster has many switches, you might need to scroll down the window to display the rest of the front-panel images. Instead of scrolling, you can click an icon in the cluster tree, and CMS then scrolls and displays the corresponding front-panel image.

Figure 4-6 Cluster-Tree Icons

Table 4-1 Cluster Tree Icon Colors

Color

Device Status

Green

Switch is operating normally.

Yellow

The internal fan of the switch is not operating, or the switch is receiving power from an RPS.

Red

Switch is not powered on or has lost power, or the command switch is unable to communicate with the member switch.

Front-Panel Images

You can manage the switch from a remote station by using the front-panel images. The front-panel images are updated based on the network polling interval that you set from CMS > Preferences.

This section includes descriptions of the LED images. Similar descriptions of the switch LEDs are provided in the switch hardware installation guide.

Note The Preferences window is available if your switch access level is read-only. For more information about the read-only access mode, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

Figure 4-7 shows the port icons as they appear in the front-panel images. To select a port, click the port on the Front Panel view. The port is then highlighted with a yellow outline. To select multiple ports, you can:

•Press the left mouse button, drag the pointer over the group of ports that you want to select, and then release the mouse button.

•Press the Ctrl key, and click the ports that you want to select.

•Right-click a port, and select Select All Ports from the port popup menu.

Alarm Relay and Power LEDs on Catalyst 2955 Switches

The alarm relay LED images are labeled Alarm MAJ and MIN on the CMS Front Panel view and show when a major or minor alarm has occurred on the switch. You can configure alarm relays for traffic signal failure or degradation, equipment malfunction, and SNMP messages. Red means that an alarm has occurred. No LED, or black, means the absence of alarms on the switch.

Power A and Power B LED images on the CMS Front Panel view for the Catalyst 2955 switch show the status of the primary (A) and secondary (B) power supplies. Green means that the power supply is connected and operating; red means that the power supply is off or not installed. Power B is green only if a secondary power supply is installed and is operating; otherwise, it is red.

Note For more information about configuring alarm relay settings, refer to the online help.

Redundant Power System LED

The Redundant Power System (RPS) LED shows the RPS status, as listed in Table 4-3 and Table 4-4. Certain switches in the switch cluster use a specific RPS model:

Note The Cisco RPS 675 does not support the Catalyst 3550-24-DC switch.

Note The Cisco RPS 300 does not support the Catalyst 2955 switch.

Refer to the appropriate switch hardware documentation for RPS descriptions specific for the switch.

.

Table 4-3 Cisco RPS 300 and Cisco RPS 675 LED

Color

RPS Status

Black (off)

RPS is off or is not installed.

Green

RPS is connected and operational.

Blinking green

RPS is providing power to another switch in the stack.

Amber

The RPS could be in standby mode.

To put the RPS in Active mode, press the Standby/Active button on the RPS, and the LED should turn green. If it does not, one of these conditions could exist:

•One of the RPS power supplies could be down. Contact Cisco Systems.

•The RPS fan could have failed. Contact Cisco Systems.

Blinking amber

Internal power supply of the switch is down, and redundancy is lost. The switch is operating on the RPS.

Table 4-4 Cisco RPS 600 LED

Color

RPS Status

Black (off)

RPS is off or is not installed.

Green

RPS is operational.

Blinking green

RPS and the switch AC power supply are both powered up. If the switch power supply fails, the switch powers down and after 15 seconds restarts, using power from the RPS. The switch goes through its normal boot sequence when it restarts.

Note This is not a recommended configuration.

Amber

RPS is connected but not functioning properly. One of the power supplies in the RPS could be powered down, or a fan on the RPS could have failed.

Port Modes and LEDs

Table 4-5 and Table 4-6 list the port modes that determine the type of information displayed through the port LEDs. When you change port modes, the meanings of the port LED colors also change.

Note The bandwidth utilization mode (UTIL LED) does not appear on the front-panel images. Select Reports > Bandwidth Graphs to display the total bandwidth in use by the switch. Refer to the switch hardware installation guide for information about using the UTIL LED.

To select or change a mode, click the Mode button until the desired mode LED is green.

Note The Catalyst 2955 switch does not have a Mode button. Port status is shown by the LED color that surrounds the port image.

Table 4-5 Port Modes

Mode LED

Description

STAT

Link status of the ports or the Ethernet link status on the remote customer premises equipment (CPE) device. This is the default mode except on Catalyst 2950 Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) switches.

DUPLX

Duplex setting on the ports. The default setting on the 10/100 ports is auto. The default setting on the 10/100/1000 ports is full.

SPEED

Speed setting on the ports. The default setting on the 10/100 and 10/100/1000 ports is auto.

Table 4-6 Port LEDs

Port Mode

Port LED Color

Description

STAT

Cyan (off)

No link.

Green

Link present.

Amber

Link fault. Error frames can affect connectivity, and errors such as excessive collisions, CRC errors, and alignment and jabber errors are monitored for a link-fault indication.

Port is not forwarding. Port was disabled by management, by an address violation, or by Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).

Note After a port is reconfigured, the port LED can remain amber for up to 30 seconds as STP checks the switch for possible loops.

VLAN Membership Modes

Table 4-7 lists the colors that outline the ports (Front Panel view) when you click Highlight VLAN Port Membership Modes on the Configure VLANs tab on the VLAN window. The colors show the VLAN membership mode of each port. The VLAN membership mode determines the kind of traffic the port carries and the number of VLANs to which it can belong. For more information about these modes, see the "VLAN Port Membership Modes" section.

Note This feature is not supported on the Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 switches.

Table 4-7 VLAN Membership Modes

Mode

Color

Static access

Light green

Dynamic access

Pink

802.1Q trunk

Peach

Negotiate trunk

White

Topology View

The Topology view displays how the devices within a switch cluster are connected and how the switch cluster is connected to other clusters and devices. From this view, you can add and remove cluster members. This view provides two levels of detail of the network topology:

•Expand Cluster: When you right-click a cluster icon and select Expand Cluster, the Topology view displays the switch cluster in detail, as shown in Figure 4-8. This view shows the command switch and member switches in a cluster. It also shows candidate switches that can join the cluster. This view does not display the details of any neighboring switch clusters

•Collapse Cluster: When you right-click a command-switch icon and select Collapse Cluster, the cluster is collapsed and represented by a single icon, as shown in Figure 4-9. The view shows how the cluster is connected to other clusters, candidate switches, and devices that are not eligible to join the cluster (such as routers, access points, IP phones, and so on).

Note The Topology view displays only the switch cluster and network neighborhood of the specific command or member switch that you access. To display a different switch cluster, you need to access the command switch or member switch of that cluster.

You can arrange the device icons in either view. To move a device icon, click and drag the icon. To select multiple device icons, you can either:

•Press the left mouse button, drag the pointer over the group of device icons that you want to select, and then release the mouse button.

•Press the Ctrl key, and click the device icons that you want to select.

After selecting the icons, drag the icons to any area in the view.

Figure 4-8 Expand Cluster View

Figure 4-9 Collapse Cluster View

Topology Icons and Labels

The Topology view and the cluster tree use the same set of device icons to represent clusters, command and standby command switches, and member switches. They also use the same labels to identify the command switch (CMD) and the standby command switch (STBY).

The Topology view uses additional icons to represent these types of neighboring devices:

•Devices that are not eligible to join the cluster, such as Cisco IP Phones, Cisco access points, and Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP)-capable hubs and routers

Note The System Switch Processor (SSP) card in the Cisco Integrated Communications System (ICS) 7750 appears as a Layer 2 switch. SSP cards are not eligible to join switch clusters.

•Devices that are identified as unknown devices, such as some Cisco devices and third-party devices

Tip Neighboring devices are only displayed if they are connected to cluster members. To display neighboring devices in the Topology view, either add the switch to which they are connected to a cluster, or enable that switch as a command switch.

To select a device, click the icon. The icon is then highlighted. To select multiple devices, you can either:

•Press the left mouse button, drag the pointer over the group of icons that you want to select, and then release the mouse button.

•Press the Ctrl key, and click the icons that you want to select.

The Topology view also uses a set of link icons to show the link type and status between two devices. To select a link, click the link that you want to select. To select multiple links, press the Ctrl key, and click the links that you want to select.

Device and Link Labels

The Topology view displays device and link information by using these labels:

•Cluster and switch names

•Switch MAC and IP addresses

•Link type between the devices

•Link speed and IDs of the interfaces on both ends of the link

When using these labels, keep these considerations in mind:

•The IP address displays only in the labels for the command switch and member switches.

•The label of a neighboring cluster icon only displays the IP address of the command-switch IP address.

At least one link is active, and at least one other link is down or blocked.

Both red

All links are down or blocked.

The color of a device label shows the cluster membership of the device, as listed in Table 4-11.

Table 4-11 Device Label Colors

Label Color

Color Meaning

Green

A cluster member, either a member switch or the command switch

Cyan

A candidate switch that is eligible to join the cluster

Yellow

An unknown device or a device that is not eligible to join the cluster

Topology Display Options

You can set the type of information displayed in the Topology view by changing the settings in the Topology Options window. To display this window, select View > Topology Options. From this window, you can select:

•Device icons (including IP Phones, CPEs, Neighbors, Access Points, and Candidates) that you want displayed in or filtered from the Topology View window

•Interface IDs and Actual Speed values that you want displayed in the Link window

•Host Names, IP addresses, and MAC address labels that you want displayed in the Node window

Menus and Toolbar

The configuration and monitoring options for configuring switches and switch clusters are available from menus and a toolbar.

Menu Bar

The menu bar, as shown in Figure 4-3, provides the complete list of options for managing a single switch and switch cluster.

The menu-bar options on a Catalyst 2950 or Catalyst 2955 switch change depending on whether the switch is running the standard software image (SI) or the enhanced software image (EI). The footnotes in Table 3-11 list the options available if the switch is running the EI.

Note The Catalyst 2950 LRE and Catalyst 2955 switches run only the EI.

Options displayed from the menu bar can vary:

•The option for enabling a command switch is only available from a CMS session launched from a command-capable switch.

•Cluster management tasks, such as upgrading the software of groups of switches, are available only from a CMS session launched from a command switch.

•If you launch CMS from a specific switch, the menu bar displays the features supported only by that switch.

•If you launch CMS from a command switch, the menu bar displays the features supported on the switches in the cluster, with these exceptions:

–If the command switch is a Layer 3 switch, such as a Catalyst 3550 switch, the menu bar displays the features of all Layer 3 and Layer 2 switches in the cluster.

–If the command switch is a Layer 2 switch, such as a Catalyst 2950 or Catalyst 3500 XL switch, the menu bar displays the features of all Layer 2 switches in the cluster. The menu bar does not display Layer 3 features even if the cluster has Catalyst 3550 Layer 3 member switches.

•We strongly recommend that the highest-end, command-capable switch in the cluster be the command switch:

–If your switch cluster has a Catalyst 3550 switch, that switch should be the command switch.

We strongly recommend that the command switch and standby command switches are of the same switch platform and that both are running the same level of software (SI or EI). In the event of a failover, the standby command switch must support the same configuration and services that are running on the command switch.

Refer to the release notes for the Catalyst switches that can be part of a switch cluster.

Unless noted otherwise, the menu-bar options in the list that follows are available from a Catalyst 2950 or Catalyst 2955 command switch when the cluster contains only Catalyst 2950 or Catalyst 2955 member switches. The menu bar of the command switch displays all menu-bar options available from the cluster, including options from member switches from other cluster-capable switch platforms.

Note Access modes affect the availability of features from CMS. Some CMS features are not available in read-only mode. For more information about how access modes affect CMS, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

These are the menu bar options:

•CMS

–Page Setup—Set default document printer properties to be used when printing from CMS.

–Print Preview—View the way the CMS window or help file will appear when printed.

–Print—Print a CMS window or help file.

–Guide Mode/Expert Mode—Select which interaction mode to use when you select a configuration option (not available in read-only mode).

–Preferences—Set CMS display properties, such as polling intervals, the default views to open at startup, and the color of administratively shutdown ports. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

•Administration

–IP Addresses—Configure IP information for a switch. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–SNMP—Enable and disable Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), enter community strings, and configure end stations as trap managers. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–SystemTime—Configure the system time or configure the Network Time Protocol (NTP). Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–HTTP Port—Configure the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) port number. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Users and Passwords—Configure usernames and passwords for privilege levels 0 to 15.

–Console Baud Rate—Change the baud rate for the switch console port. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–MAC Addresses—Enter dynamic, secure, and static addresses in a switch address table. You can also define the forwarding behavior of static addresses. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–ARP—Display the device Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table, and configure the ARP cache timeout setting. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–SaveConfiguration—Save the configuration for the cluster or switch to Flash memory (not available in read-only mode).

–Restore Configuration—Restore the configuration file to one or more switches in the cluster.

–Software Upgrade—Upgrade the software for the cluster or a switch (not available in read-only mode).

–LRE Software Upgrade—Upgrade the software on one or more LRE CPE devices.

–System Reload—Reboot the switch with the latest installed software (not available in read-only mode).

–Cluster Manager—Launch a CMS session from the member switch (available only from a Device Manager session on a cluster member).

–Create Cluster—Designate a command switch, and name a cluster (not available in read-only mode). This option is available only from a Device Manager session on a command-capable switch that is not a cluster member.

–Delete Cluster—Delete a cluster (not available in read-only mode). This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–Add to Cluster—Add a candidate to a cluster (not available in read-only mode). This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–Remove from Cluster—Remove a member from the cluster (not available in read-only mode) This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–Standby Command Switches—Create a Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) standby group to provide command-switch redundancy. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode. This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–Hop Count—Enter the number of hops away that a command switch looks for members and for candidate switches. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode. This option is available only from a cluster management session.

•Device

–Device Manager—Launch Device Manager for a specific switch. This option is available only from a cluster management session (Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 member switches only).

–Host Name—Change the host name of a switch (not available in read-only mode).

–Alarms (Catalyst 2955 switch only)—Configure alarm settings for an interface or for the entire device, and view the status of any unresolved alarms.

–STP—Display and configure STP parameters for a switch. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–IGMP Snooping—Enable and disable Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping and IGMP Immediate-Leave processing on the switch. Join or leave multicast groups, and configure multicast routers. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–802.1X—Configure 802.1X authentication of devices as they are attached to LAN ports in a point-to-point infrastructure (not available in read-only mode).

–ACL (guide mode available in read-write mode)—Create and maintain access control lists (ACLs), and attach ACLs to specific ports. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

This option is available only from a switch running the EI.

–Security Wizard—Filter certain traffic, such as HTTP traffic, to certain networks or devices. Restrict access to servers, networks, or application data from certain networks or devices (not available in read-only mode).

This option is available only from a switch running the EI.

–QoS—Display submenu options to configure, enable, and disable quality of service (QoS) parameters for Trust settings, Queues, Maps, Classes (guide mode available), and Policies (guide mode available. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–AVVID Wizards—Configure a port to send or receive voice traffic by using the Voice Wizard. Optimize multiple video servers for sending video traffic by using the Video Wizard. Provide a higher priority to specific applications by using the Data Wizard.

–Port Settings—Display and configure port parameters on a switch. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Port Search—Search for a port through its description.

–Port Security—Enable port security on a port (not available in read-only mode).

–EtherChannels—Group ports into logical units for high-speed links between switches. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–SPAN—Enable Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) port monitoring. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Protected Port—Configure a port to prevent it from receiving bridged traffic from another port on the same switch. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Flooding Control—Block the normal flooding of unicast and multicast packets and enable the switch to block packet storms. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

•VLAN

–VLAN (guide mode available in read-write mode)—Display VLAN membership, assign ports to VLANs, and configure 802.1Q trunks. Display and configure the VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) for interswitch VLAN membership. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Management VLAN—Change the management VLAN on the switch. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–VMPS—Configure the VLAN Membership Policy Server (VMPS). Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

–Voice VLAN—Configure a port to use a voice VLAN for voice traffic, separating it from the VLANs for data traffic. Some options from this menu are not available in read-only mode.

•Reports

–Inventory—Display the device type, software version, IP address, and other information about a switch.

–Port Statistics—Display port statistics.

–Bandwidth Graphs—Display graphs that plot the total bandwidth in use by the switch.

–Link Graphs—Display a graph showing the bandwidth being used for the selected link.

–Link Reports—Display the link report for two connected devices. If one device is an unknown device or a candidate, only the cluster-member side of the link appears.

–ACL Reports—Display a report about ACL statistics.

–Multicast—Display a submenu to run an IGMP report.

–Resource Monitor—Display masks for ACL and QoS policy maps. This option is available only from a switch running the EI.

–System Messages—Display the most recent system messages (Cisco IOS messages and switch-specific messages) sent by the switch software.

This option is available on the Catalyst 2950, Catalyst 2955, and Catalyst 3550 switches. It is not available from the Catalyst 2900 XL and Catalyst 3500 XL switches. You can display the system messages of the Catalyst 2900 XL and Catalyst 3500 XL switches when they are in a cluster where the command switch is a non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switch running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2 or later, a Catalyst 2955 switch, or a Catalyst 3550 switch running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(8)EA1 or later.

For more information about system messages, refer to the switch system message guide for that release.

•Tools

–Ping and Trace—Perform a ping or Layer 2 traceroute operation on or to a specific address.

•View

–Refresh—Update the views with the latest status.

–Front Panel—Display the Front Panel view.

–Topology—Display the Topology view. This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–TopologyOptions—Select the information to be displayed in the Topology view.

–Automatic Topology Layout—Request CMS to rearrange the topology layout. This option is available only from a cluster management session.

–Save Topology Layout—Save the presentation of the cluster icons that you arranged in the Topology view to Flash memory (not available in read-only mode). This option is available only from a cluster-management session.

•Window—List the open windows in your CMS session.

•Help

–Overview—Obtain an overview of the CMS interface.

–What's New—Obtain a description of the new CMS features.

–Help For Active Window—Display the help for the active open window. You can also click Help from the active window.

–Contents—List all of the available online help topics.

–Legend—Display the legend that describes the icons, labels, and links.

–About—Display the CMS version number.

Toolbar

The toolbar buttons display commonly-used switch and cluster configuration options and information windows such as legends and online help. Hover the cursor over an icon to display the feature. Table 4-12 lists the toolbar options from left to right on the toolbar.

Front Panel View Popup Menus

These popup menus are available in the Front Panel view:

Device Popup Menu

You can display all switch and cluster configuration windows from the menu bar, or you can display commonly-used configuration windows from the device popup menu, as listed in Table 4-13. To display the device popup menu, click the switch icon from the cluster tree or the front-panel image itself, and right-click.

Port Popup Menu

You can display all port configuration windows from the Port menu on the menu bar, or you can display commonly-used port configuration windows from the port popup menu, as listed in Table 4-14. To display the port popup menu, click a specific port image, and right-click.

4Available only when there is an active link on the port (that is, the port LED is green when in port status mode).

Topology View Popup Menus

These popup menus are available in the Topology view.

Link Popup Menu

Table 4-15 lists the reports and graphs that you can display for a specific link in the Topology view. To display the link popup menu, click the link icon, and right-click.

Table 4-15 Link Popup Menu

Link Popup Menu

Task

Link Report

Display the link report for two connected devices. If one device is an unknown device or a candidate, only the cluster member side of the link displays.

Link Graph

Display a graph showing the current bandwidth used by the selected link. You can change the graph polling interval by selecting CMS > Preferences.

Properties

Display information about the device and port on either end of the link and the state of the link.

The Link Report and Link Graph options are not available if at both ends of the link are one of these:

•Candidate switches

•Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 switches

•Devices that are not eligible to join the cluster

If multiple links are configured between two devices, when you click the link icon and right-click, the Logical Link Content window appears, as shown in Figure 4-10. Click the link icon in this window, and right-click to display the link popup menu specific for that link.

Note The Device Manager option in these popup menus is available in read-only mode on Catalyst 2900 XL and Catalyst 3500 XL switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.0(5)WC2 and later. It is also available on non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2 or later, on Catalyst 2950 LRE switches, on Catalyst 2955 switches, and on Catalyst 3550 switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(8)EA1 or later. It is not available on the Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 switches.

Table 4-20 Candidate-Switch Icon Popup Menu (When the Candidate Switch Does Not Have an IP Address)

Popup Menu Option

Task

Add to Cluster

Add a candidate to a cluster.

Properties

Display information about the device.

Table 4-21 Neighboring-Device Icon Popup Menu

Popup Menu Option

Task

Device Manager

Access the web management interface of the device.

Note This option is available on Cisco access points, but not on Cisco IP Phones, hubs, routers and on unknown devices such as some Cisco devices and third-party devices.

Disqualification Code

Display the reason why the device could not join the cluster.

Properties

Display information about the device.

Interaction Modes

You can change the interaction mode of CMS to either guide or expert mode. Guide mode steps you through each feature option and provides information about the parameter. Expert mode displays a configuration window in which you configure the feature options.

Note You cannot switch modes for an open CMS window (for example, from Guide Mode to Expert Mode). For the mode change to take effect on any other open CMS window, you need to close that window and then re-open it after you select the new mode.

Guide Mode

Guide mode is for users who want a step-by-step approach for completing a specific configuration task. This mode is not available for all features. A menu-bar option that has a person icon means that guide mode is available for that option.

When you click Guide Mode and then select a menu-bar option that supports it, CMS displays a specific parameter of the feature with information about the parameter field. To configure the feature, you provide the information that CMS requests in each step until you click Finish in the last step. Clicking Cancel at any time closes and ends the configuration task without applying any changes.

If Expert Mode is selected and you want to use Guide Mode instead, you must click Guide Mode before selecting an option from the menu bar, tool bar, or popup menu. If you change the interaction mode after selecting a configuration option, the mode change does not take effect until you select another configuration option.

Note Guide mode is not available if your switch access level is read-only. For more information about the read-only access mode, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

Expert Mode

Expert mode is for users who prefer to display all the parameter fields of a feature in a single CMS window. Information about the parameter fields is available by clicking the Help button.

Wizards

Wizards simplify some configuration tasks on the switch. Similar to the guide mode, wizards provide a step-by-step approach for completing a specific configuration task. Unlike guide mode, a wizard does not prompt you to provide information for all of the feature options. Instead, it prompts you to provide minimal information and then uses the default settings of the remaining options to set up default configurations.

Wizards are not available for all features. A menu-bar option that has wizard means that selecting that option launches the wizard for that feature.

Note Wizards are not available if your switch access level is read-only. For more information about the read-only access mode, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

Tool Tips

CMS displays a popup message when you move your mouse over these devices:

•A yellow device icon in the cluster tree or in Topology view—A popup displays a fault message, such as that the RPS is faulty or that the switch is unavailable because you are in read-only mode.

•A red device icon in the cluster tree or in Topology view—A popup displays a message that the switch is down.

If you move your mouse over a table column heading, a popup displays the full heading.

Online Help

CMS provides comprehensive online help to assist you in understanding and performing configuration and monitoring tasks from the CMS windows, as shown in Figure 4-11. Online help includes these features:

•Feature help, available from the menu bar by selecting Help > Contents, provides background information and concepts on the features.

•Dialog-specific help, available from Help on the CMS windows, provides procedures for performing tasks.

•Index of help topics.

•Glossary of terms used in the online help.

You can send us feedback about the information provided in the online help. Click Feedback to display an online form. After completing the form, click Submit to send your comments to Cisco Systems Inc. We appreciate and value your comments.

Figure 4-11 Help Contents and Index

CMS Window Components

Host Name List

To display or change the configuration of a cluster member, you need to select the specific switch from the Host Name drop-down list. The list appears in the configuration window of each feature and lists only the cluster members that support that feature. For example, the Host Name list on the VLAN window does not include Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 switches even though they are part of the cluster. Similarly, the Host Name list on the LRE Profiles window only lists the LRE switches in the cluster.

Tabs, Lists, and Tables

Some CMS windows have tabs that present different sets of information. Tabs are arranged like folder headings across the top of the window. Click the tab to display its information.

Listed information can often be changed by selecting an item from a list. To change the information, select one or more items, and click Modify. Changing multiple items is limited to those items that apply to at least one of the selections.

Some CMS windows present information in a table format. You can edit the information in these tables.

Note You can resize the width of the columns to display the column headings, or you can hold your cursor over the heading to display a popup description of the column.

Filter Editor

When you click Filter in a CMS window that contains a table, the Filter Editor window appears. The column names in the table become the field names in this window. You can enter selection criteria in these field names to filter out table rows that you do not want displayed. For procedures on using the Filter Editor, refer to the online help.

Buttons

These are the most common buttons that you use to change the information in a CMS window:

•OK—Save any changes and close the window. If you made no changes, the window closes. If CMS detects errors in your entry, the window remains open. For more information about error detection, see the "Red Border Around a Field" section.

•Apply—Save any changes made in the window and leave the window open. If you made no changes, the Apply button is disabled.

•Refresh—Update the CMS window with the latest status of the device. Unsaved changes are lost.

•Cancel—Do not save any changes made in the window and close the window.

•Help—Display procedures on performing tasks from the window.

•Modify—Display the secondary window for changing information on the selected item or items. You usually select an item from a list or table and click Modify.

Green Border Around a Field or Cell

A green border around a field or table cell means that you made an unsaved change to the field or table cell. Previous information in that field or table cell is displayed in the window status bar. When you save the changes or if you cancel the change, the green border disappears.

Red Border Around a Field

A red border around a field means that you entered invalid data in the field. An error message also displays in the window status bar. When you enter valid data in the field, a green border replaces the red border until you either save or cancel the change.

If there is an error in communicating with the switch or if you make an error while performing an action, a message notifies you about the error.

Accessing CMS

This section assumes the following:

•You know the IP address and password of the command switch or a specific switch. This information is

–Assigned to the switch through the CLI-based setup program, as described in the release notes.

–Assigned to the switch through the Express Setup program only if your non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switch is running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(14)EA1 or later.

•You have referred to the release notes for system requirements and have followed the procedures for installing the required Java plug-in and configuring your browser.

Caution Copies of the CMS pages that you display are saved in your browser memory cache until you exit the browser session. A password is not required to redisplay these pages, including the Cisco Systems Access page. You can access the command-line interface (CLI) by clicking
Monitor the router - HTML access to the command line interface from a cached copy of the Cisco Systems Access page. To prevent unauthorized access to CMS and the CLI, exit your browser to end the browser session.

Note If you have configured the Terminal Access Controller Access Control System Plus (TACACS+) or Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) feature on the switch, you can still access the switch through CMS. For information about how inconsistent authentication configurations in switch clusters can affect access through CMS, see the "TACACS+ and RADIUS" section.

To access CMS, follow these steps:

Step 1 Enter the switch IP address and your privilege level in the browser Location field (Netscape Communicator) or Address field (Microsoft Internet Explorer). For example:

http://10.1.126.45:184/level/14/

where 10.1.126.45 is the switch IP address, 184 is the HTTP port, and level/14 is the privilege level. You do not need to enter the HTTP port if the switch is using HTTP port 80 (the default) or enter the privilege level if you have read-write access to the switch (privilege level is 15). For information about the HTTP port, see the "HTTP Access to CMS" section. For information about privilege levels, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

Step 2 When prompted for a username and password, enter only the switch enable password. CMS prompts you a second time for a username and password. Enter only the enable password again.

If you configure a local username and password, make sure you enable it by using the ip http authentication {enable | local | tacacs} global configuration command. Enter your username and password when prompted.

Step 3 Click Web Console.

If you access CMS from a standalone or member switch, Device Manager appears. If you access CMS from a command switch, you can display the Front Panel and Topology views.

Access Modes in CMS

CMS provides two levels of access to the configuration options: read-write access and read-only access. Privilege levels 0 to 15 are supported.

•Privilege level 15 provides you with read-write access to CMS.

•Privilege levels 1 to 14 provide you with read-only access to CMS. Any options in the CMS windows, menu bar, toolbar, and popup menus that change the switch or cluster configuration are not shown in read-only mode.

•Privilege level 0 denies access to CMS.

If you do not include a privilege level when you access CMS, the switch verifies if you have privilege-level 15. If you do not, you are denied access to CMS. If you do have privilege-level 15, you are granted read-write access. Therefore, you do not need to include the privilege level if it is 15. Entering zero denies access to CMS. For more information about privilege levels, see the "Preventing Unauthorized Access to Your Switch" section.

If your cluster has these member switches running earlier software releases and if you have read-only access to these member switches, some configuration windows for those switches display incomplete information:

For more information about this limitation, refer to the release notes.

These switches do not support read-only mode on CMS:

•Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820

•Catalyst 2900 XL switches with 4-MB CPU DRAM

In read-only mode, these switches appear as unavailable devices and cannot be configured from CMS.

HTTP Access to CMS

CMS uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is an in-band form of communication with the switch through any one of its Ethernet ports and that allows switch management from a standard web browser. The default HTTP port is 80.

If you change the HTTP port, you must include the new port number when you enter the IP address in the browser Location or Address field (for example, http://10.1.126.45:184 where 184 is the new HTTP port number).

Do not disable or otherwise misconfigure the port through which your management station is communicating with the switch. You might want to write down the port number to which you are connected. Changes to the switch IP information should be done with care.

For information about connecting to a switch port, refer to the switch hardware installation guide.

Saving Your Configuration

Note The Save Configuration option is not available if your switch access level is read-only. For more information about the read-only access mode, see the "Access Modes in CMS" section.

Tip As you make cluster configuration changes (except for changes to the Topology view and in the Preferences window), make sure that you periodically save the configuration from the command switch. The configuration is saved on the command and member switches.

The front-panel images and CMS windows always display the running configuration of the switch. When you make a configuration change to a switch or switch cluster, the change becomes part of the running configuration. The change does not automatically become part of the configuration file in the Flash memory, which is the startup configuration used each time the switch restarts. If you do not save your changes to the Flash memory, they are lost when the switch restarts.

Restoring Your Configuration

After you save a switch configuration, you can restore the configuration to one or more switches for these reasons:

•You made an incorrect change to the current running configuration and want to reload a saved configuration.

•You need to reload a switch after a switch failure or power failure.

•You want to copy the configuration of a switch to other switches.

For CMS procedures for restoring a switch configuration, refer to the online help.

CMS Preferences

When you exit from CMS, your CMS preferences are saved to your PC in a file called .cms_properties. You can copy this file to other PCs. The file is stored in a default configuration directory, such as C:\Documents and Settings\username. If you cannot locate the CMS preferences file, select Start > Search > For Files or Folders..., and search for .cms_properties.

Note In previous CMS versions, the preferences were saved in Flash memory when you exited from CMS.

Using Different Versions of CMS

When managing switch clusters through CMS, remember that clusters can have a mix of switch models using different Cisco IOS releases and that CMS in earlier releases and on different switch platforms might look and function differently from CMS in this release.

When you select Device > Device Manager for a cluster member, a new browser session is launched, and the CMS version for that switch appears.

Here are examples of how CMS can differ between Cisco IOS releases and switch platforms:

•On Catalyst switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.0(5)WC2 or earlier or Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA1 or earlier, the CMS versions in those software releases might appear similar but are not the same as this release. For example, the Topology view in this release is not the same as the Topology view or Cluster View in those earlier software releases.

•CMS on the Catalyst 1900 and Catalyst 2820 switches is referred to as Switch Manager. Cluster management options are not available on these switches. This is the earliest version of CMS.

For descriptions of the CMS version that you are using, refer to the switch documentation for that specific Cisco IOS release.

Where to Go Next

Before configuring the switch, refer to these places for start-up information: